- Joined
- Jan 16, 2013
- Messages
- 22,599
- Name
- Dennis
The Rams have always been a team that has wanted to build through the draft.
After getting to the playoffs in 2017 by winning the NFC West, they wanted to take the next step and get a first round bye as well as compete for a Super Bowl berth. In order to do that, they felt the best way to accomplish that goal was to add veterans. Not only have they done that, they added veterans with outstanding resumes.
On offense, the Rams lost wide receiver Sammy Watkins to free agency when he signed in Kansas City. The front office quickly replaced him with Brandin Cooks who may not be as physical as Watkins, but he is faster and a bit more explosive. Cooks may be a better fit in the Rams offense than Watkins was.
Along the offensive line, they wanted to add depth and did that in the draft adding tackle Joe Noteboom, center Brian Allen and tackle Jamil Demby. Getting Noteboom in the third round may be a steal because he has the talent to start as a rookie.
The biggest additions for the Rams was on defense where they have added former Pro Bowlers Ndamukong Suh, Marcus Peters and Aqib Talib. Those additions give the Rams perhaps the strongest defensive line and secondary in the NFL.
The Rams backend will have Talib and Peters at the corners and Lamarcus Joyner and John Johnson at safety. That gives the Rams three players who are among the best at their positions in the entire NFL. Talib and Peters are both considered No. 1 corners and Joyner has top instincts, range and ball skills.
Like the secondary, the defensive line is scary it’s so strong. Suh and Aaron Donald are among the best inside players in football and give the Rams arguably the strongest inside pass rush in the NFL. The third member of the line is Michael Brockers, who is strong in his own right, as he had 55 total tackles and 4.5 sacks a year ago.
The edge pass rushers are Samson Ekubam, who will replace the departed Robert Quinn, and Matt Longacre. It was Ekubam’s and Longacre’s strong play in 2017 that allowed the Rams to trade Quinn to the Miami Dolphins. Neither has yet to reach his ceiling as an NFL player and with 2018 being their second year in Wade Phillips' attacking scheme they will only improve.
Depth at outside linebacker will come from rookie Obo Okoronkwo. Obo is only 6-foot-1 and 253 pounds but his long arms (33 ¾”) allows him to play taller. He totaled 17 sacks over the last two seasons.
The one thing that is certain, is that in 2018 it will be a nightmare for offensive coordinators trying to prepare an offensive game plan when they have to go up against the Rams.
As good as the Rams defense is, the key to the Rams showing improvement and competing to get to the next level will be the play of quarterback Jared Goff. Goff struggled as a rookie but in fairness the Rams didn’t have the offensive coaches in place to help him develop. With the hire last year of Sean McVay as head coach, the Rams surrounded Goff with top quarterback tutors and Goff showed remarkable improvement.
This off-season the Rams lost two of those coaches as Greg Olsen went to the Raiders as offensive coordinator and Matt LaFleur moved on to the Tennessee Titans. Replacing Olsen and LeFleur are Zac Taylor and Jedd Fisch to work with Goff. Both have extensive experience working with quarterbacks at both the NFL and college levels.
With 2018 being Goff's second year in McVay’s offense he should play even better than he did in 2017. Last year Goff threw for more than 3,800 yards, completed 62 percent of his throws and threw for 28 touchdowns and only eight interceptions. The expectations are that Goff improves his completion percentage and throws for more yards and touchdowns. Add in the running of Todd Gurley and the Rams offense can be almost as scary as the defense.
Did the Rams do enough to become a legitimate Super Bowl contender? Experts around the league feel they have but like with any team they have to play to their potential and keep core players injury free. If that happens, the Los Angeles Rams should be a contender to win the NFC Championship come January.
[www.profootballweekly.com]